ToL Resources - Quaternary Period

A place to keep my notes on the Timeline of Life projects for the History Fair.

I also recommend the excellent Geologic Clock graphic from Wikipedia!

Quaternary Period / Reception

in our display

The Quaternary Period booklet

Life on Earth: The Story of Evolution by Steve Jenkins
Early Human pages






The sign read

Welcome, human, to the Quaternary Period and modern day.

Humans have dominated the Quaternary Period, in part due to our hands (with their opposable thumbs).

Want to have some fun? Try serving your punch or cider without using your thumbs. Good luck!

The delicious ice cream punch was a tremendous hit!

I found this vintage recipe on the back of an old spice box left behind in my Grandmommy's kitchen. Here it is:

This post contains affiliate links to materials I truly use for homeschooling. Qualifying purchases provide me with revenue. Thank you for your support!

ToL Resources - Neogene Period

A place to keep my notes on the Timeline of Life projects for the History Fair.

I also recommend the excellent Geologic Clock graphic from Wikipedia!

Neogene Period

in our display

The Neogene Period booklet

fossils - platter of Miocene Epoch sharks' teeth from Calvert Cliffs
(everyone was allowed to keep one)

The Monster Shark's Tooth: Canoeing from the Chesapeake Bay into the Ancient Miocene Sea by Peter Vogt

Prehistoric Actual Size by Steve Jenkins
terror bird

Apex Predators: The World's Deadliest Hunters, Past and Present
by Steve Jenkins - Daedon page

Quiz Box - What Animals Crossed the Land Bridges?

The Monster Shark's Tooth: Canoeing from the Chesapeake Bay into the Ancient Miocene Sea by Peter Vogt

I am friends with both the author and the illustrator of this story and loved sharing it as a lunchtime read aloud with the children! It goes perfectly with the Timeline of Life (Miocene Epoch, Neogene Period, Cenozoic Era).

This post contains affiliate links to materials I truly use for homeschooling. Qualifying purchases provide me with revenue. Thank you for your support!

ToL Resources - Paleogene Period

A place to keep my notes on the Timeline of Life projects for the History Fair.

I also recommend the excellent Geologic Clock graphic from Wikipedia!

Paleogene Period

in our display

The Paleogene Period booklet

clay model of the Titanoboa beside a golden bead
(representing the size of a human compared to the snake)

How Whales Walked into the Sea by Faith McNulty

Apex Predators: The World's Deadliest Hunters, Past and Present
by Steve Jenkins - Titanoboa page

Quiz Box - Guess How Long the Titanoboa Was.

This post contains affiliate links to materials I truly use for homeschooling. Qualifying purchases provide me with revenue. Thank you for your support!

ToL Resources - Cretaceous Period

A place to keep my notes on the Timeline of Life projects for the History Fair.

I also recommend the excellent Geologic Clock graphic from Wikipedia!

Cretaceous Period

in our display

The Cretaceous Period booklet

fossils - gastropod, turritella, brachiopod, pelocypod

magnolia leaf

wooden Parasaurolophus
my blog post of the 12 wooden Holztiger dinosaurs

Bizarre Dinosaurs: Some Very Strange Creatures and Why We Think They Got That Way by Christopher Sloan

When Sue Found Sue: Sue Hendrickson Discovers Her T. Rex by Toni Buzzeo

Dinosaurs! My First Book About Herbivores by "Dinosaur George" Blasing
Parasaurolophus, pp.44-45

Dinosaurs! My First Book About Carnivores by "Dinosaur George" Blasing
Tyrannosaurus, pp.54-55

Quiz Box - The Tyrannosaurus Has ______ on Its Teeth.


Families had to go through an Extinction Curtain to pass into the Cenozoic Era.

This post contains affiliate links to materials I truly use for homeschooling. Qualifying purchases provide me with revenue. Thank you for your support!

ToL Resources - Jurassic Period

A place to keep my notes on the Timeline of Life projects for the History Fair.

I also recommend the excellent Geologic Clock graphic from Wikipedia!

Jurassic Period

in our display

The Jurassic Period booklet

fossils - dinosaur bone, dinosaur coprolite, ammonite, sea urchin

giant pine cones

The Colorful World of Dinosaurs by Matt Sewell
Dracoraptor, pp.74-75

Quiz Box - Which Dinosaur Appeared in the Movie Jurassic Park That Didn't Actually Exist During This Geologic Period?

This post contains affiliate links to materials I truly use for homeschooling. Qualifying purchases provide me with revenue. Thank you for your support!

ToL Resources - Triassic Period

A place to keep my notes on the Timeline of Life projects for the History Fair.

I also recommend the excellent Geologic Clock graphic from Wikipedia!

Triassic Period

in our display

The Triassic Period booklet

fossil - wood

When the Whales Walked and Other Incredible Evolutionary Journeys by Dougal Dixon
When Crocodiles Ruled the World, pp.24-25

Quiz Box - Marine Reptiles Such as Icthyosaurs and Plesiosaurs Spent Their Entire Life in the Seas. They Breathed with a) Lungs or b) Gills?


We repurposed Montessori Grammar Boxes to make our Quiz Boxes:

This post contains affiliate links to materials I truly use for homeschooling. Qualifying purchases provide me with revenue. Thank you for your support!

ToL Resources - Permian Period

A place to keep my notes on the Timeline of Life projects for the History Fair.

I also recommend the excellent Geologic Clock graphic from Wikipedia!

Permian Period

imagine how big this puzzle would need to be if it included all life forms currently living AND all of the life forms that have gone extinct!

in our display

The Permian Period booklet

Pangea puzzle (PDF)
American Museum of Natural History

Tree of Life Material from Waseca Biomes
my blog post listing all 69 leaves

Grandmother Fish by Jonathan Tweet
Tree of Life illustration

Quiz Box - Is the Dimetrodon a Dinosaur?


Families had to go through an Extinction Curtain to pass into the Mesozoic Era.

This post contains affiliate links to materials I truly use for homeschooling. Qualifying purchases provide me with revenue. Thank you for your support!

ToL Resources - Carboniferous Period

A place to keep my notes on the Timeline of Life projects for the History Fair.

I also recommend the excellent Geologic Clock graphic from Wikipedia!

Carboniferous Period

in our display

The Carboniferous Period booklet

fossils - fern, horn coral

an organic sedimentary rock formed during the period (coal)

lifesize brown paper dragonfly

lifesize brown paper millipede

fern forest backdrop

Botanicum by Kathy Willis and Katie Scott
Carboniferous Forest

Prehistoric Actual Size by Steve Jenkins
dragonfly, cockroach

Prehistoric Actual Size by Steve Jenkins
millipede

Quiz Box - How Big Was the Flying Cockroach?


I had saved the beautiful fern forest background papers from our last Timeline of Life Museum... back in 2017!

This post contains affiliate links to materials I truly use for homeschooling. Qualifying purchases provide me with revenue. Thank you for your support!

ToL Resources - Devonian Period

A place to keep my notes on the Timeline of Life projects for the History Fair.

I also recommend the excellent Geologic Clock graphic from Wikipedia!

Devonian Period

in our display

The Devonian Period booklet

fossils - orthorcera, coral, crinoid, ammonite

colored chalk mural on blackboard

Fossils from Lost Worlds by Damien Laverdunt and Hélène Rajcak
Tiktaalik pages

This post contains affiliate links to materials I truly use for homeschooling. Qualifying purchases provide me with revenue. Thank you for your support!

ToL Resources - Silurian Period

A place to keep my notes on the Timeline of Life projects for the History Fair.

I also recommend the excellent Geologic Clock graphic from Wikipedia!

Silurian Period

in our display

The Silurian Period booklet

celery in colored water
(to demonstrate vascular tissue)

When Fish Got Feet, Sharks Got Teeth, and Bugs Began to Swarm: A Cartoon Prehistory of Life Long Before Dinosaurs by Hannah Bonner
pp.18-19

Apex Predators: The World's Deadliest Hunters, Past and Present
by Steve Jenkins - Trigonotarbid page

Quiz Box - What Was the Most Fearsome Predator of the Silurian Period?

This post contains affiliate links to materials I truly use for homeschooling. Qualifying purchases provide me with revenue. Thank you for your support!

ToL Resources - Ordovician Period

A place to keep my notes on the Timeline of Life projects for the History Fair.

I also recommend the excellent Geologic Clock graphic from Wikipedia!

Ordovician Period

in our display

The Ordovician Period booklet

fossil - bryozoan

nautilus puzzle

The Story Of Life: Evolution by Katie Scott

Life Story by Virginia Lee Burton

Quiz Box - How Did the Ordovician Period Get Its Name?

This post contains affiliate links to materials I truly use for homeschooling. Qualifying purchases provide me with revenue. Thank you for your support!

ToL Resources - Cambrian Period

A place to keep my notes on the Timeline of Life projects for the History Fair.

I also recommend the excellent Geologic Clock graphic from Wikipedia!

Cambrian Period

in our display

The Cambrian Period booklet

fossils - trilobite, algae

plastic trilobite

underwater world display with playstands and blue canopy silk

sea anemones made from upcycled water bottles

Amazing Evolution: The Journey of Life by Anna Claybourne

Apex Predators: The World's Deadliest Hunters, Past and Present
by Steve Jenkins - Anomalocaris page

Quiz Box - Are Sponges Plants or Animals?

This post contains affiliate links to materials I truly use for homeschooling. Qualifying purchases provide me with revenue. Thank you for your support!

ToL Resources - Precambrian Time

A place to keep my notes on the Timeline of Life projects for the History Fair.

I also recommend the excellent Geologic Clock graphic from Wikipedia!

Precambrian Time

in our display

The Precambrian Time booklet

three part cards

The Stuff of Stars by Marion Dane Bauer

Life: A Journey Through Time by Frans Lanting

Ubiquitous: Celebrating Nature’s Survivors by Joyce Sidman
(the endpapers of this book are incredible! 1 cm = 1 million years)

How to Dig a Hole to the Other Side of the World by Faith McNulty

Layers of the Earth tapestry woven on a hula hoop loom

also recommended

How Brawn Led to Brains
YouTube - PBS Eons

How Microbes Got Their Crawl
The New York Times - Feb 18, 2026

The Rise of Eyes Began With Just One
The New York Times - Feb 23, 2026

This post contains affiliate links to materials I truly use for homeschooling. Qualifying purchases provide me with revenue. Thank you for your support!